Screaming Indiana Pacers fan Kathy Harrison, who went viral from Michael Jordan's 'The Last Dance,' talks about new fame

Ethan Sears / Indianapolis Star

Tuesday

May 19, 2020 at 11:33 AM

Kathy Martin Harrison didn't remember she had signed a waiver. After all, it was 22 years ago.

But after seeing herself on ESPN's "The Last Dance," her phone blew up and she became a viral meme, the light went on.

"Before the game started, a national TV guy came up to us and said, 'Look, we're filming a lot of footage of Michael Jordan for a movie,'" Harrison recalled in an appearance on Dan Dakich's radio show Monday. "'And if we show you in any of the footage, would you sign a release?' We signed a release."

Harrison, who owns a local car dealership and has been an Indiana Pacers season-ticket holder for 44 years, was talking trash to Michael Jordan and the Bulls, just as she did to everyone else at the time. It's no longer allowed, thanks to the code of conduct, but she enjoyed the interactions with players -- and some grew to recognize her, including Dennis Rodman.

"We’d just try to get into their heads. Disrupt their game," Harrison said. "That was our job. That was our mission.

"And he would just turn around. He’d go, 'Oh, that diamond ring you have on your hand is fake. That’s fake.' And I’d go, 'OK, Dennis.'"

She nearly didn't watch the documentary when it aired Sunday, but tuned in after realizing Reggie Miller would be on. Then she saw herself.

THE LAST DANCE: Winners, losers from the ESPN documentary

BLACK JESUS: Best quotes from 'The Last Dance'

Harrison isn't on social media, but messages started to pour in with screenshots from Twitter. She learned what the Karen meme was. By the time she got to bed, it was nearly 1 a.m.

"We felt it was our job to get into the heads of the visitors," Harrison said. "You can’t do it today, because they’ll arrest you, but back then, it was OK to be feisty and yell at the players and the players would yell back at you. It was just a lot of fun.

"I do miss those days, but I’m older now and I just sit quietly in my seat.”

Overall, Harrison said, the experience has been positive. And if anyone came away with a negative impression of her, well, that's too bad for them.

"I was supporting my team," Harrison said. "I was doing my job."

She became a sensation overnight ‼️ I tracked down the &quot;screaming#Pacers Fan&quot; from 22 years ago who had social media buzzing last night during#TheLastDance.@WISH_TVpic.twitter.com/0zVPRajEmJ

&mdash; Anthony Calhoun (@ACwishtv)May 19, 2020

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